These, The Fruits of Polynesia
by Rebecca Keys
Summary: Cody discovers an ancient pirate map. He has a theory that no one believes, and so sets off to find answers on his own. On the way he gets stranded on a remote island in Polynesia... but not before taking Zack with him! What will it take to survive? Z/C
1. Yarrr, A Birdy Scroll

"Bailey!" Cody ran down the steps to the main deck, gripping something long and cylindrical that had been wrapped hastily in his sky blue baby blanket. Cody came to a halt in front of the juice counter, heaving, where Bailey was sipping a Banana Fofana and talking to Zack.

Zack eyed his brother with amusement.

"I didn't know you brought _blanky_ with you to school," Zack said. "I thought you said you were too old for that thing."

Cody narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well, it's a good thing I did. _Look_ what I found!" He peered around quickly before raising the bundle and lifting a flap of the blanket away, to reveal a scroll of paper.

"What is it, Cody?" Bailey asked between sips, looking up in curiosity.

"It's an old map of the waters around New Zealand, signed by Captain Pepperbeard himself!" He whispered excitedly.

Bailey gasped. "Not the famous ocean explorer who first sailed around New Zealand's outreaching islands documenting rare and exotic bird species! That's amazing! Where'd you find it?"

Zack raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of parent names their kid _Pepperbeard_?"

Cody gave his brother a look. "Never mind _that_." He glanced around himself quickly, and whispered "I found it in the Captain's writing desk. In his _office_."

Zack gaped at his brother with surprise and a fair amount of pride. "Dude. You _broke_ into the captain's office?" Zack wiped away fake tears. "I'm so proud."

"Shhh!" Cody wheeled around; he eyed the couple sitting at the table nearest to them with suspicion. Then he scowled at his brother. "Be _quiet._ I don't want anyone else finding out about this, okay? So just… keep your trap shut."

Zack's eyes widened. He and Bailey traded odd looks.

Zack was the first to speak, pressing a warm palm against Cody's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, Codes? You look unwell."

Cody swiped at the hand, irritated. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Bailey, I've got to tell you something. In private." Zack pouted, and Cody amended reluctantly. "Okay, Zack… you can come too, if you _promise_ to be quiet."

Zack nodded, to show he understood. He mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key, straight face slipping a little at Bailey's eye roll.

Cody gestured toward the elevator. "Follow me!"

When they reached the dormitory hallway, Cody surprised his comrades by coming to a halt in front of Zack's door, instead of his own.

"Why are we going in _my_ room?" Zack complained. Cody crossed his arms.

"_Because_, Zack, I don't want people overhearing us. And you get to have this room to yourself all the time, so quit whining."

"Oh, all right." Zack got out his key card and swiped. The light on the handle turned green, and he opened the door, allowing Bailey and Cody to walk in front of him. He got in after them and locked the door.

"Well, here we are, Codes. Now spill. What's with all the snooping?"

Bailey put her hands on her hips. "Yes! What on _earth_ were you doing breaking into a crewmember's office? And stealing from the _Captain's desk_?" She shook her head. "It's just so unlike you."

Zack grinned. "Yeah, it is- where'd you get the balls- uh, _nerves_- to do it?"

Bailey and Cody crossed their arms. Zack wisely shut up.

Cody sat gingerly on Zack's bed and unfurled the scroll against the covers. Bailey gasped, and made her way over to the bed herself so that she could view it more clearly. Intricate designs were scratched elegantly around the map's edges.

"Such beautiful craftsmanship!" Bailey said in an awed whisper.

"Yeah, I know," Cody agreed. They sighed appreciatively.

Zack raised an eyebrow at the doodles. "It's just a stupid map. Of _New Zealand_." He scoffed. "Who the hell cares about New Zealand?"

Cody and Bailey eyed him with disgust.

"I can't believe I'm related to you," Cody sniffed, and pointed at the waters surrounding the main islands. "_This _is no ordinary map. See all this writing around the edges? They're Captain Pepperbeard's notes, detailing his extensive explorations of the many islands of Polynesia!"

"Wait, Polynesia? I thought we were talking about New Zealand."

"We are. _Polynesia_ is a term that describes a large collective of islands in the Pacific Island chain, including New Zealand**, **Rotuma, the Midway Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Sheesh, I'm sorry I asked."

Bailey examined the scribbles with curiosity.

"This is fascinating, Cody. But... why go to all this trouble?" She looked away from the map, frowning at him. "You still haven't explained how you even got into the Captain's office in the first place. It's always locked."

Cody rummaged in his pocket, and held up a fork, guiltily. Zack gaped.

"Wow! You don't mean… you deactivated the ship's top-secret security system by reflecting its anti-theft lasers off that fork's metal onto your key card, thereby altering the card's magnetism so that it could unlock any door, including the Captain's?"

Cody and Bailey stared at him.

"Um… No," Cody said slowly. "I just… pried the door open."

"Oh." Zack laughed nervously, eyes growing shifty. "Right. That, uh... makes much more sense."

Cody eyed him with suspicion. "How did you know to… Oh, never mind." He turned to Bailey.

"The reason I brought you two down here is because I think I found something important in my research of New Zealand's outlying island territories." He bent and rummaged around under Zack's bed, pulling out a box filled with papers, magazines, and several thick tombs. "I also took these."

Zack jumped, pointing at the books in alarm. "Whoa, how'd _those_ get under there?"

Cody shrugged. "I hid them here for safekeeping."

Zack crossed his arms. "Okay, that's it. Sneaking around? Stealing from the authorities?" He paused dramatically, pointing at his bed. "Hiding _contraband_? Who are you, and _what have you done with my brother_?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "They're just _references_, Zack. Besides, I didn't steal these, I got them on loan from the library."

A blank stare met Cody's words. He backtracked. "You know, that place with all the textual resources that you can rent out for school work if you have a special card?"

Another blank stare. Cody sighed. "That _big room_ next to the ice cream parlor that doesn't allow food or soda anywhere inside."

Zack started. "Oh, right, that one. I hate those guys!"

Cody pinched the bridge of his nose. "_Anyway_. I've been looking through these for information about the seabirds that nest in the waters surrounding the New Zealand mainland. And I found this amazing bird called the _Henderson Crake_. It used to live everywhere in Polynesia, until a huge hurricane a few decades ago reduced the species to two remaining populations on the Pitcairn Islands. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, the population has declined, mostly due to habitat loss, and was declared extinct in 2004 by the last search party to go looking for them."

Cody looked up at Bailey and Zack, who were beginning to drift to sleep. Noticing Cody's pout, Zack sighed.

"It's all very heartbreaking and everything," Zack said, sitting by his brother solemnly and slapping Cody's back. "But remind me why I should care."

Cody scowled at him. "I never expected _you_ to care, Zack. You don't care about anything." He turned to Bailey with hope in his eyes. Bailey winced sympathetically.

"Sorry, Cody, but… I don't see why we should care, either. If the birds really are gone for good, I don't see how we can do anything about it. I mean, at least not without the help of technology beyond all modern abilities."

Cody stood up and began to pace. "That's just what the authorities _want_ us to think," he muttered, deeply immersed in his thoughts. He stopped, turning to face his companions smugly. "You see, after _extensive_ research, I have come to suspect that those birds... aren't extinct at all." He smiled satisfactorily. "Allow me to explain."

"What if we don't want to hear it?" came a whine from the pillows.

"Don't care. _Now_. Pitcairn isn't very densely populated, so there isn't much documentation on the local fauna available to the public eye. _But_, according to local legends—wait, wait, let me find it," Cody said, pulling a tomb from the box and flipping through its yellowed pages hurriedly.

His finger came to rest on a particularly meaty paragraph, accompanied by a diagram of a green, foul-beaked bird holding up a fish. "Here it is. According to local legends, the Henderson Crake has also been spotted previously on another island—Henderson Island!"

"Oo, plot twist."

Cody glared reproachfully. "Zack, kindly shut up or I'll tell Moesby that _you_ were the one who planted the bikini in his birthday cake."

"...Roger that."

"Right. The most recent reports that I can find that contain any information about the Crake's disappearance... don't mention _anything_ about the other island." He scoffed derisively. "It's appalling, isn't it? Usually the Bureau of Environmental Protection are much more rigorous..." He trailed off, mumbling.

"Cody…" Bailey said softly. "Zack and I really aren't seeing the point here." She crossed her legs, holding her hands in her lap.

"Right, don't worry, honey. I was just getting to the exciting bit."

"I _sincerely_ doubt that," Zack snarked, slouching against the bed pillows. He wriggled around to get comfortable, and crossed his arms behind his head. "But do go on, tell us anyway. I might as well get some sleep while you're at it."

Cody shook the articles in Zack's face, irritated. "Bikini. Cake!" His brother only snickered in response.

Bailey squeezed Cody's shoulder gently. "Just tell us what you found, Cody. _I'm_ listening." Cody smiled at her gratefully.

"Thanks, Bailey. Well, some of the legends surrounding this bird are decidedly more interesting. For example, there's one source here that says, and I quote, 'the guano of the _lukka-lukka_ bird'—that's the Crake—'has been prized by Polynesian peoples for centuries for its amazing medicinal and crop-fertilizing properties. It is said that in its powdered tea form, the guano can cure the drinker of leprosy, depression, and old age.' What is more, the sources then go on to say that there have been wars throughout the ages over collection rights, and that explorers from all over the world have come to harvest the guano for its use in herbal remedies."

Cody looked up from the tomb. "Don't you get it? These birds aren't extinct. The authorities are just covering up their existence so they can keep harvesting the guano for themselves. And it wouldn't be that hard for them to do, would it? Henderson Island is practically uninhabitable, and all attempts to colonize it have failed. It's isolated from civilization, safe from prying eyes…"

The others looked at him, unimpressed.

Zack. "Why do we care. Do we care?" He looked at Bailey for support. She just shrugged, smiling in a 'let's humor him for a while longer' sort of way. Cody felt like growling. Nobody was listening to him.

"Fine. You all can go on with your tiny little lives. Wither away in your ignorance, for all I care!" He looked from Bailey, who was fighting a grin, to Zack, who wasn't fighting anything at all. He glared harder, poking at his chest. "_I'm_ going to find out the truth. And later, when I'm right; _I'll _be the one laughing."


	2. Shiver Me Timbers

"Zack?" Cody called softly through his brother's door; not wanting to wake his roommate, Woody, who was still snoring sleepily just across the hall.

He rapped smartly at the wood a second time, trying in vain to keep still.

After about ten seconds of unresponsive silence, a low, irritated groan issued from somewhere within the room.

Another minute passed without a word. Cody was just about to knock again when the door opened centimeters from his fist, and Zack's tussled, sleep-deprived face appeared in the doorway.

He looked at Cody blearily, blinking. "…Yeah?" he slurred, slouching against the doorway.

Cody rocked on the heels of his feet. Zack took in his twin's practically vibrating frame and groaned, stepping aside in resignation.

Cody took the less-than-exuberant invitation in good humor, flouncing inside with a smirk. The map was clenched against his side.

After rubbing the sleep from eyes with the edge of one grimy pajama sleeve, Zack glanced at Cody up and down with some confusion.

"_Why_… are you already dressed?" He asked finally, after looking at Cody for some time. His face was strangely wrinkled: irritation warring with confusion, and a grudging curiosity.

Cody flashed him a smug grin, holding out the map. "Couldn't sleep."

Zack glanced at it sleepily, gesturing vaguely to his bed with one hand. Cody understood, making his way over to the mattress, map in hand. Zack followed more slowly after closing the door, and upon contact with the bed lay down completely, so that his legs were hanging off the side.

"Just… tell me what you wanted t'say, and let me sleep." Zack waited impatiently for a rational response, and turned to glare at his brother, irritation quickly returning. "O_kay_?"

"Right," Cody agreed easily, staring at the map; the first words he'd spoken since entering. He gestured to the document excitedly. "You won't _believe_ what I found."

Zack didn't respond, which seemed to disappoint Cody a bit. He pouted, but quickly recovered.

"This writing, around the edges," he said, pointing to the marks in question excitedly, "I think it's a poem. A riddle…. Sort of." He paused dramatically. Zack remained unmoved.

"_Before_, I thought it was just talking about the birds," he continued. "You know…. Like this, for instance." Cody circled his finger over some scribbles in the upper-left corner of the map.

"This first part here, says, roughly translated: 'The treasure to be found on these islands cannot be matched, for it is beyond any value imaginable.' And at _first_—for obvious reasons— I just assumed that Pepperbeard was referring to the remarkable properties of the Henderson Crake's guano."

A small pause. Cody waited, holding his breath.

"Your mind is a fascinating place," Zack remarked, without even opening his eyes. His voice was flat, and unsympathetic. Cody rolled his eyes.

"No, no, Zack, you're not listening... _Listen_! 'Untold be the worth of these rarest of jewels', it says; 'this _endless expanse of gold_. He who should find it shall be richest upon the earth.'"

Zack sat up, finally listening; all traces of sleep apparently gone. Cody went on, narrating in a low, animated whisper.

"'Dangerous be the waters that surround this place; but for those who can traverse them…." Cody lowered his voice. "Endless wonder."

Zack stared at Cody, realization dawning. "You mean... actual _treasure_? Like... gold, _and stuff_?"

"Yes! Zack, _I really think so_!"

For a moment, the excitement on both brothers' faces matched completely.

Zack breathed, taking it all in. "Whoa. So... Wait. This is still that Henders-thingy Island from before we're talking about, right?"

Cody nodded, beaming. "Yes, if Pepperbeard's map is to be believed… which I'm almost _positive_ it is. He spent his entire life exploring those waters; if anyone were to have discovered any kind of treasure on those islands, it would have been _him_!" He sighed, happily. "That _man_... is just-" he trailed off, grinning stupidly at nothing.

Zack's eyes widened, a familiar gleam entering them. "You don't think…?" He asked slowly, watching Cody's reaction.

Cody paused, sucking in a breath. "What?"

"I mean... _Captain_ Pepperbeard? Who had a _ship_?" He waited patiently for it to sink in, but Cody merely looked puzzled. "Come on. _Hidden_ treasure? An old _map_, telling us _exactly_ where to find it?"

Cody laughed derisively, as it dawned on him. "Oh, you think he's a _pirate_. Don't you." His words dripping scorn.

Zack nodded, looking awed. But Cody merely rolled his eyes at him. "How _old_ are you, Zack? Nine? Seven?"

Zack remained unfazed, grinning like a maniac. "Cody, you just have to look—it all makes sense! Just think of it!" He wrapped an arm around Cody's shoulders, jostling him back and forth. "By tomorrow afternoon, the _Tipton_ will be docked safely upon New Zealand's rosy shores." He squeezed Cody's shoulders again, emphasizing the point. "And _we_ will be in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time…. Can't you see? It's perfect!"

He jumped off the bed, pacing. Cody looked after him, crossing his arms doubtfully. "I don't like where you're going with this," he said shortly, his voice crisp and disapproving.

"No, really, Codes, it's pure brilliance." Zack paused in his pacing, turning to look at his brother with wild, hungry eyes. Cody didn't like the look on his face.

"No, _you_ really. I-"

But Zack interrupted his thoughts. "Can you navigate?"

"…What?"

Zack pointed to the map. Cody saw where he was looking, and held the scroll to his chest defensively. "If we took that with us…" Zack said cautiously, "Do you think that _you_ could take us there? To that Hender place?"

Cody considered it for a long time, not really looking his twin in the eye. But eventually, he nodded, residual adrenaline clouding his judgement.

"_Yeah_… yeah, I probably could. But, _Zack_, what you're suggesting, it's… well, complete stupidity. Henderson Island is uninhabited for a reason. It's like the poem says. The waters are treacherous."

Cody stood up, then, facing his brother. Zack didn't seem to be paying much attention, but Cody made the effort anyway. "A-and _plus_, _Zack_, the rocks surrounding the island are probably all completely jagged and sharp; impassable. The islands are all relatively new, you know, geologically speaking, so there's _got _to be a dangerously high obsidian content as is in the igneous rock bed surrounding the…"

Zack turned to Cody, grabbing him by the shoulders mid-sentence. "Cody, stop. Think about this rationally, will you? We wouldn't be trying to 'inhabit' the island at all. We'd just be there for a couple of hours, while the boat is still docked on the mainland. Just long enough for us to take a look around and see what we can find."

Cody opened his mouth once more, but Zack silenced him. "I know what you're going to say; but we're not like those other explorers, from before. We've got Pepperberg's map or whatever to guide us, if we get lost- not to mention cell phones. And the lifeboats on the _Tipton_ are well stocked for emergencies."

His voice grew soft, then, and he turned Cody around slowly in his grip, so that Zack was standing closely behind him. He breathed out against Cody's neck, gesturing with a wide, warm arm to indicate some invisible scene before them. Cody shivered at the sensations that skated down his back, and closed his eyes. "The two of together, Codes… we'd make a great team. What with your knowledge of the history of the area—combined with _my_ survival skills and strength—we'd be in and out of there in no time."

"I don't know…." Cody hesitated. The feel of Zack's hands clenching like a vice around his arms, as well as the feel of his warm breath fanning against his neck, were making it surprisingly hard to think.

He'd been so invigorated in his room that evening when he'd realized just what he'd discovered. The glow of it had made him giddy. But now...

Well. Perhaps he should have expected that Zack would react like this.

In any case, there was no going back now. If Cody refused to help, Zack would just attempt to go on his own, and end up getting hurt. Or worse.

"_Fine_," he declared, nostrils flaring.

Zack grinned, stepping back from him. "That's more _like_ it, Codes! Way to be!" He slapped Cody's back roughly before rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Not so fast, though," Cody warned, frowning. He turned to face him. "I do have one condition."

Zack stopped, ears perking. "Yeah? What's that?"

"That Bailey goes, too."

Zack opened his mouth to protest, but Cody gave him a look. "I'm _serious_, Zack. Bailey's knowledge of navigation is… well, I wouldn't say _better _than mine. But it's definitely more 'sea-oriented', if you know what I mean. We could really use her know-how."

Zack stared at him for several moments, thinking. Then he grinned, holding out his hand. "Fine," he agreed easily, smiling. Too easily. Cody looked down at the proffered hand, suspicious, but Zackary's face was all innocence.

"Really?" Cody said slowly. "That's it? No begging, pleading…"

"Nope," Zack said, still smiling.

"And… there will be no tricks. You promise?"

"No tricks," Zack agreed, nodding. Cody waited. "All right. 'I promise.'"

Cody continued to look at the hand warily, but eventually caved. "…Good," he said, shaking it soundly.

As soon as Zack released him, Cody turned away and pulled out his sanitizer, applying it to liberally to both hands. Zack rolled his eyes, but flopped back onto his bed, yawning dramatically. After a moment's consideration, he pulled the map out from under him and held it lengthwise for Cody to take.

"Thanks," Cody said, surprised, and took the document—rolling it up and slipping it through a belt loop. "I… guess I'll see you in the morning, then."

He started to leave, mind whirling; and had already approached the door when Zack called out to him from the bed.

"Oh yes… Cody? I forgot to mention one thing."

"Yeah?" Cody inquired, not turning around.

"Do me a favor, will you? Let's not tell any of the adults what we're doing, until after we come back with the treasure. Okay? They'd just try and stop us if we did."

Cody paused, calculating, but nodded. That made sense, he supposed. As much as he was loath to keep secrets from adults, he knew that Zack was probably right about it ruining their plans prematurely.

"Oh, and Cody?" Zack called out again as Cody's hand wrapped around the shiny, metal handle.

"…Yes?" Shoulders tense.

"Don't… tell Bailey, either." Cody stopped, and Zack continued hastily. "Not just _yet_, I mean. We'll definitely tell her, yeah? But don't do it tonight. We'll do it together, in the morning, once we've planned our cover."

Cody was instantly suspicious. "…Why?"

Zack sighed impatiently. "_You_ might not tell anyone else, but we can't trust that Bailey won't. You know what she's like." Cody prickled at that, a frown tugging at his lips, but Zack hastened to explain. "It'll just be until we're all set to leave, all right? At that point, one of us can go fetch her and explain that we have to leave right away, so that she won't have time to report us."

It sounded plausible enough. But it didn't feel right, not telling his girlfriend about plans that included her. "I don't like it, Zack. I really think Bailey deserves to know." He turned half-way. "I'm pretty sure I could convince her not to tell…."

Zack sighed again. "_Maybe_. But you can't know that for sure. Do you really want to give up the chance of a lifetime; give up the chance to find out if the Hender Bird really is extinct, like the government says?"

"Henderson _Crake_," Cody corrected automatically. Zack ignored him.

"Don't try to tell me this isn't important to you."

Cody sighed. He knew perfectly well that Zack could care less about some bird he'd only heard about that morning. He also knew that the only reason Zack was excited about this at all was because of some dumb treasure, that they weren't even sure actually existed.

He wasn't stupid. He recognized the hunger he saw in his brother's eyes for what it was.

And yet… the thought of missing out on the discovery of a life-time… it tore at Cody, relentlessly. And so, despite his misgivings, he already knew what his answer was going to be.

"Okay," Cody said, turning back to the door. He twisted the handle and slipped out into the hallway, before he could change his mind.

He just hoped he was making the right decision.


End file.
